Beamed across 241,000 miles (388,000 kilometers) of space, the grainy images reminded me of a scene from the classic TV series The Outer Limits. But what I was seeing on my family’s small-screen, black-and-white television were live pictures of Neil Armstrong preparing to step onto the lunar surface from the Apollo 11 lunar module (LM), Eagle.
“I’m at the foot of the ladder,” he says in a remarkably calm voice. “The LM footpads are only depressed in the surface about 1 or 2 inches, although the surface appears to be very, very fine-grained as you get close to it. It’s almost like a powder.” A half-minute later, he declares: “OK. I’m going to step off the LM now.”
After what seemed like an eternity (though it lasted only 11 seconds), Armstrong uttered the words that still resonate across half a century: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” It marked the culmination of a mission that had begun on a sunny Florida morning four days before, the fulfillment of a goal set eight years earlier by President John F. Kennedy, and the achievement of the dreams of countless people over the centuries who had stared in awe at Earth’s brilliant satellite.
After waiting anxiously for 20 minutes, Buzz Aldrin descended the Eagle’s ladder and joined Armstrong on the surface. For two and a half hours, the astronauts gathered soil samples, deployed scientific experiments, planted a U.S. flag, and talked with President Nixon from the Oval Office. All the while, the third member of the Apollo 11 crew, Michael Collins, orbited some 66 miles (106 km) overhead.
The following images showcase a small sample of the more than 1,000 photographs the Apollo crew captured during this historic mission. So sit back, grab a cup of coffee (or glass of Tang), and experience humankind’s grand adventure one more time.
An otherworldly salute
Buzz Aldrin salutes the American flag as he looks directly toward the Sun. (You can see his fingertips on the far side of the helmet.) Several well-defined bootprints appear in the foreground.
Preparing to board
Armstrong waves to well-wishers as he and Collins (Aldrin is hidden behind) make their way to the van that will take them to the Saturn V launch vehicle on July 16.
Blast off
Seconds after the Saturn V's rockets ignited on the morning of July 16, a fisheye camera lens mounted to the launch tower captured the massive rocket passing by.
A trip to the Moon
Aldrin sits inside the LM as he and Armstrong perform their initial inspection of the vehicle that will ferry them to the Moon's surface.
A heavenly view
The command module, Columbia, poses for the astronauts on Eagle while the two craft continue to orbit the Moon. The lunar surface below lies in the northern part of Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fertility).
A second small step
Aldrin descends the Eagle's ladder on his way to becoming the second man to stand on the Moon's surface. As Aldrin stood on the footpad, Armstrong said, "Magnificent sight out here," to which Aldrin replied, "Magnificent desolation."
Leaving a mark
Aldrin took this photo of his boot and a partial bootprint as he tests the mechanics of the lunar soil. The rock in front of his toe measures 2 inches (5 cm) across.
Off to work
Aldrin carries the Lunar Ranging Retro-Reflector in his right hand the seismometer in his left. He skirts the edge of a small crater as he heads south from Eagle toward the deployment sites for two experiments.
Testing the solar wind
Buzz Aldrin deploys the Solar Wind Collector. He angles the foil sheet toward the Sun so it can capture the charged solar particles. After being exposed for a little more than an hour, Aldrin rolled it up to bring it back to Earth for analysis.
Magnificent desolation
Armstrong took the eight photos in this panorama near the end of the astronauts' surface activities. Little West Crater dominates the right foreground, while the LM stands 200 feet (60 m) away.
Back on terra firma
The Apollo 11 astronauts greet their wives — Pat Collins, Jan Armstrong, and Joan Aldrin (left to right) — from inside the Mobile Quarantine Facility after they arrived at Ellington Air Force base in Texas on July 27.